Rebels
eat into party vote banks
FARIDABAD, Feb 13  The fate
of six former ministers and one
member of the Chautala cabinet is
at stake in the coming Vidhan
Sabha election in six
constituencies of Faridabad
district.

Ajay
Chautala expels 3 INLD rebels
JIND, Feb 13  The week-long drama
about the alleged support of Chief
Minister Om Prakash Chautala to the rebel
INLD candidate from here, Mr Gulshan
Bharadwaj, against the official alliance
candidate, Mr Rameshwardass Gupta of the
BJP, ended today with the party deciding
to expel Mr Bharadwaj along with the
district INLD spokesperson Umaid Singh
Ikus and the local unit president Mr
Bhupinder Singh from the primary
membership of the party for six years.

CM denies
backing Independents
The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautalas schedule has been hectic
ever since the elections were announced
for the Haryana Assembly. He has been
actively canvassing for the alliance
candidates day and night.

Many
artisans without identification proof
PANIPAT, Feb 13  It has been more
than 36 years since Mohammad Hanif, a
handloom artisan migrated here from
Bijnor. But till today Hanif has not even
a ration card to his name, leave alone
the photo identity card, the use of which
has been made mandatory by the Election
Commission for casting ones vote in
the forthcoming assembly poll in Haryana.

Cost effective telecom system
PANIPAT: Telecommunication technology is in for a major
change. The introduction of the Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
system which is undergoing field trials by the Department
of Telecom (DoT) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
(MTNL) at Panipat, Rajkot, Bhopal and Mumbai promises to
revolutionise the telecom networking in the country.

Treat
retarded kids as normal: expert
SIRSA, Feb 13  Eminent neuro-surgeon, Dr V.K. Kak,
while emphasising the need to open schools for retarded
children at the district level, has said society should
treat retarded children similar to that of normal
children and their parents should take them to the
parties and other functions so that they do not feel
neglected.

Gohana
to have sugar mill soon
SONEPAT, Feb 13  The Haryana Government has
initiated steps for the construction of a cooperative
sugar mill at Ahulana village in Gohana subdivision of
this district.

While Mr Gujar is
seeking re-election from Mewla Maharajpur Mr Mahendra
Pratap Singh jumped into the fray after he was denied the
Congress ticket. He is now contesting on the BSP ticket
and has also managed to get the support of the Rashtriya
Lok Dal of Mr Ajit Singh, a prominent Jat leader of
western U.P who also exercises some influence in Haryana.

In the last Vidhan Sabha
election in 1996 Mr Mahendra Pratap Singh the Congress
nominee lost to Mr Gujar of the BJP by 26417 votes. The
official Congress candidate in Mewla Maharajpur, the
largest constituency in Haryana is Mr J.P. Nagar. All
three candidates are from the Gujjar community which
represents around 20 per cent of voters.

In NIT Mr Chander Bhatia
(BJP), a member of the dissolved house is again pitted
against Mr Chowdhary of the Congress, who was defeated by
34,407 votes in the last election. Although Mr Chowdhary
has managed to get the party ticket with the blessing of
Mr Bhajan Lal given the claim of Mr Gian Chand Ahuja it
remains to be seen whether those leaders who were denied
nomination would work for him with their heart. Thus
Subedar Suman, a former Mayor of Faridabad and a
Congressman who is in the field as an Independent could
be some cause for concern.

Ballabhgarh has become
one of the key constituencies of Haryana with Mr Ram
Bilas Sharma, a top leader of the BJP in the field. He is
banking on the large Brahmin vote. But the rank and file
of the BJP is cool towards him after Mr Anand Sharma who
was a member of the dissolved house was denied the
ticket. He is considered an outsider and is also
contesting from Mahendragarh, his home district.

Mr Sharma is facing Mr
Subhash Chowdhary (Congress) and Mr Rajendra Singh Bisla,
a rebel Congressman, a former chairman of the state
Finance Commission.

In Palwal Mr Karan Dalal
who has been denied the BJP ticket due to opposition by
Mr Chautala, is pitted against Mr Devinder Chauhan
(INLD), Mr Subhash Chowdhary (BSP) and Mr Yogesh Gaur
(Congress).

JIND, Feb 13  The
week-long drama about the alleged support of Chief
Minister Om Prakash Chautala to the rebel INLD candidate
from here, Mr Gulshan Bharadwaj, against the official
alliance candidate, Mr Rameshwardass Gupta of the BJP,
ended today with the party deciding to expel Mr Bharadwaj
along with the district INLD spokesperson Umaid Singh
Ikus and the local unit president Mr Bhupinder Singh from
the primary membership of the party for six years.

The decision to expel
the three was announced by the senior party leader and
Bhiwani MP, Mr Ajay Chautala, at a press conference
organised at the BJP office here. Mr Chautala said Mr
Gupta was the official alliance candidate and no
party (INLD) worker should work against him.

Announcing the decision
of expulsion, he warned all party workers that
disciplinary action would be taken against them, in case
they supported Mr Gulshan Bharadwaj. Interestingly, Mr
Bharadwaj is contesting on the official INLD symbol of
spectacles.

The open support of the
entire INLD cadre to Mr Bharadwaj had created serious
misunderstandings between the alliance partners. The
differences had not remained confined to the Jind
assembly segment only, but had percolated to other
constituencies like the important constituency of Narwana
where INLD chief and Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala
is contesting against Mr Randeep Surjewala of the
Congress.

The BJP cadre, which
commands influence in Narwana town, had dissociated
itself from the INLD campaign. During Mr Ajay
Chautalas tour of the constituency yesterday, he
had found BJP workers indifferent and at certain places
they were even hostile.

Hundreds of BJP workers
staged a demonstration at Uchana, against the alleged
INLD support to Mr Bharadwaj. The Jind district BJP had
planned district-wide protests today. But these were
cancelled, after Mr Ajay Chautala announced the decision
of expelling the rebel candidate along with his
supporters.

For the INLD it was
difficult to make a choice. Mr Bharadwaj is said to be a
committed follower of Mr Devi Lal and Mr Chautala.
Yesterday, when Mr Ajay Chautala came here to appear in a
court case, Mr Bharadwaj expected him to visit his
office. However, Mr Chautala did not go there. But this
was no consolation for the BJP, as he did not visit the
BJP office either.

Informed sources said
after reviewing situation, Mr Ajay Chautala following
consultations with the party leadership announced the
decision to expel Mr Bharadwaj. He said, he had been
asked to withdraw before February 10. As he did not
withdraw, the party was left with no choice but to expel
him.

On the other hand, the
supporters of Mr Bharadwaj claimed, they continued to be
the followers of Mr Chautala and understood his (Mr
Chautalas) compulsions. Claiming victory, they said
despite having been expelled, Mr Bharadwaj would support
Mr Chautala only, when he forms the government. There was
no resentment among the party workers in the office of Mr
Bharadwaj. Mr M.S. Malik, an INLD worker said the
decision was not unexpected, so there was no scope for
resentment. The photographs of Mr Devi Lal and Mr
Chautala were not removed either.

At Hisar, the BJP
General Secretary, Mr Narinder Modi, welcomed the INLD
decision. He said the two parties were committed to the
alliance which was reflected in todays decision of
the INLD. He said, it was the vicious
propaganda of the opponents that the INLD was not
supporting BJP candidates sincerely.

He said, same was true
about Hisar. He refuted the charge that the INLD workers
were tacitly supporting Independent candidate, Mr Om
Prakash Mahajan. He pointed out that Mr Devi Lal had
personally campaigned for Dr Kamal Gupta, the alliance
candidate (of the BJP) from Hisar. What further
proof of their (INLD) sincerity do you require, he
asked.

The Chief Minister, Mr
Om Prakash Chautalas schedule has been hectic ever
since the elections were announced for the Haryana
Assembly. He has been actively canvassing for the
alliance candidates day and night. This time, he is
seeking a mandate to serve the people for full five
years. Mr Chautala talked to TNS at Sisai village, where
he was campaigning for the INLD candidate from Chirai
constituency, Mr Puran Singh Dhabra.

Q: Certain
Independent candidates have been claiming your blessings,
which has sent confusing signals in the alliance. Why
have you remained silent?

A: I am committed to the
alliance. My support is only for the official candidates
of the alliance, whether from the INLD or the BJP. This
is a distortion being spread by the rivals, who do not
want the alliance to repeat the Lok Sabha performance. In
fact, it is their desperate frustration that makes them
spread such propaganda.

Q: But there are
certain constituencies where the INLD workers are
supporting Independent candidates?

A: I have issued clear
and unambiguous instructions to all party workers that
they will actively associate themselves with the official
alliance candidates. There are some candidates from both
the parties (the BJP and the INLD) who are still in the
fray despite our clear directions. We expect them to
withdraw. In case they do not, action will be taken
against them. As regards the INLD workers associating
themselves with some Independents against the official
candidates, this is absolutely baseless as the INLD and
BJP workers are working together as they did during the
Lok Sabha elections.

Q: Will you be
campaigning for the BJP candidates?

A: Of course I will. In
fact, I do not consider our candidates as INLD or BJP
candidates. They are the alliance candidates. I am
campaigning for Prof Ganeshi Lal in Mandi Adampur, and
all other alliance candidates contesting on the BJP
symbol. I will address public meetings in all 90 assembly
segments. I believe that sincerely in the alliance alone
will lead us to phenomenal victory.

Q: What are the
main issues you are raising?

A: Our election
manifesto already answers this question. But I will tell
you, clean and responsive administration will be our main
issue. We will ensure all-round development of the state.
Because the previous regimes during the past decade have
failed the people miserably. We have already made a
beginning during our six months stay in power.

Q: What about
free power and water to farmers?

A: The issue is not free
power or water. The farmers want power and water in the
required quantity. Tell me how can farmers benefit, if
there will be free water and power but without sufficient
quantity. We will ensure that the power and water is
available to farmers, not just in sufficient but abundant
quantity. We will provide maximum uninterrupted power to
industrial and domestic sector also.

Q: And what
about the SYL issue?

A: This does not fall in
our jurisdiction. Although it concerns us the most, we
are helpless in this regard. Because most of the water of
our share falls into Pakistan, while our land goes dry.
It is the responsibility of the Centre to ensure that
Haryana gets its due share. I am sure Atalji will manage
to settle the SYL issue as he did in case of the Cauvery
dispute. We can only extend our sincere and constructive
cooperation.

Q: How many
seats do you expect the alliance will win this time?

A: The question stands
already answered. Our phenomenal performance in the Lok
Sabha election is irrefutable proof of the results going
in our favour. Moreover, whenever we have fought in an
alliance, no party has been able to to defeat us. This
time it will be the repeat of 1999 Lok Sabha elections
and 1987 assembly elections which we fought under the
leadership of Tau Devi Lal.

Q: You do not
see any signs of a Congress revival?

A: (Smiles). Which
revival. The Congress continues to be a divided house,
with at least four claimants for the chief ministership.
Their so called revival was evident, when the party could
not finalise its candidates for the elections. I am not
sure, whether they did bring out final official list of
candidates.

PANIPAT, Feb 13 
It has been more than 36 years since Mohammad Hanif, a
handloom artisan migrated here from Bijnor. But till
today Hanif has not even a ration card to his name, leave
alone the photo identity card, the use of which has been
made mandatory by the Election Commission for casting
ones vote in the forthcoming assembly poll in
Haryana. After migrating from Bijnor our names were
struck off from the voters list there. In the past few
years my family has been shuttling often and then. So we
never got prepared a ration card, he says. When
asked what documentary proof could he show to establish
his identity, Hanif fell silent.

In the past two years,
Mohammad Qasim has been photographed thrice by the
district election officials but still photo I-card
remains an elusive dream for him. A resident of Imam
Sahib Colony for the past 16 years, Qasim has no ration
card or any other documentary proof of his identity.
Similar is the case of a powerloom worker Sirajuddin of
Hali Colony who had got himself photographed some months
back but is yet to receive the I-card. We had
migrated 15 years ago from district Nainital and settled
down here. But somehow all these years despite my best
efforts I could not get even a ration card for my
family, he says.

Buoyed by its claim of
having prepared photo I-cards of 90 per cent voters in
the state, the Election Commission though has decided
that any other documentary proof of identity such as
ration card, driving licence, passport, identity card
issued by public sector undertaking or a private firm,
property of tax documents, bank passbook etc would be
sufficient for those whose cards have not been prepared.
But there are thousands of voters like Hanif, Qasim and
Sirajuddin and who will not be able to match even these
parameters.

Says Mohammad Irfan
Ansari, general secretary of the Muslim Samaj Samiti :
There are more than one lakhs handloom artisans and
workers ( mostly muslims) who have migrated from Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar. Though some of them keep shuttling
throughout the year many have been permanently settled
here for decades. It is an irony that despite being a
resident of this town they do not have any proof of
identification.

Ansari points out that
in many cases when the people change their residences
from one locality to another their names are struck from
the voters list and they find it difficult to get
enrolled again owing to certain technicalities. In
these small localities, many a times the house owners
make it sure that their tenants do not get a ration card,
an I-card or any other proof of his residence as they
fear that the tenant after obtaining such documentary
proof might not vacate their premises and involve them
into litigation, says Ansari.

Officials of the
district election office say that photo I-cards to 90 per
cent voters have been given so far. We have not
received the figures of the I-cards distributed in
December and January. The I-cards prepared in February
will be distributed before the elections,
said an official.

HISAR, Feb 13 
While the cancellation of Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayees visit here on February 11 was
disappointing for local BJP candidate Kamal Gupta, the
last minute arrival of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi
Lal to his office saved the day for him.

It was natural for the
BJP candidate to feel disappointed as even Chief Minister
Om Prakash Chautala was absent from the venue, that too
at a time when an Independent candidate, Mr Om Prakash
Mahajan, has claimed that he enjoyed the
blessings of Mr Chautala.

In order to ensure that
the morale of the BJP cadres is maintained, party leaders
arranged Mr Devi Lals visit to the offices of Dr
Kamal Gupta and Prof Ganeshi Lal, who is contesting from
Mandi Adampur.

Dr Kamal Gupta will be
facing a four-cornered contest.

It was after the
cancellation of Mr Vajpayees visit that the INLD
and BJP leaders realised the urgency to control the
damage. The BJP is now planning another rally which is
expected to be addressed by Mr Om Prakash Chautala and
senior party leaders.

Todays decision by
the INLD to expel its rebel candidate from Jind, has also
come as a shot in the arm for the BJP. The INLD has
given a clear message that it is committed to the
alliance, the BJP general secretary Mr Narinder
Modi, who was here for campaigning, told a press
conference.

Some other BJP leaders,
including Mr Madan Lal Khurana and film
star-turned-politician Vinod Khanna are also expected to
campaign for Dr Gupta.

BHATTU KALAN
(Fatehabad), Feb 12  Bhattu Kalan is one of the few
Assembly constituencies of Haryana, which has attracted
the attention of political observers since 1977 when
Chowdhary Devi Lal contested the election from this rural
seat and went on to become the Chief Minister.

Since then the
constituency has been witness to fierce electoral battles
in which current Finance Minister Sampat Singh won thrice
and former Home Minister Mani Ram Godara won once, in
1996. Mr Sampat Singh is seeking reelection on the INLD
ticket, although his traditional opponent, Mr Mani Ram
Godara who also joined the INLD recently, is out of the
fray. The Congress has fielded its senior leader and a
former minister, Mr Jagdish Nehra.

An entirely rural
constituency, Bhattu Kalan can be divided for the sake of
convenience into three separate zones. One zone is
dominated by the Bagri Jats, a second by the Bishnois and
the third by Deswal Jats. Former Deputy Prime Minister
Devi Lal was elected from here in 1977 with margin of
6552 votes. In the 1982 election Mr Sampat Singh as an
independent, supported by Chowdhary Devi Lal defeated Mr
Ran Singh of the Congress by a margin of over 7000 votes.
In the 1987 election he defeated Mr Mani Ram Godara of
the Congress by 18,000 votes and in 1991 by a margin of
2700 votes. But in the 1996 Mr Godara turned the tables
on Mr Sampat Singh, defeating him by a margin of over
8,000 votes.

From the Congress former
Union Minister Ms Selja has campaigned for Mr Nehra and
Mr Bhajan Lal, who wields a lot of influence in this
constituency, is expected to campaign. By contrast Mr
Sampat Singh as a senior leader of the INLD has been
campaigning in neighbouring Fatehabad constituency
alongside Bhattu Kalan.

A total of 10 candidates
are in the fray. The HVP, which won the last Assembly
elections has fielded a little known woman candidate, Ms
Kamlesh Kumari, while the BSP has fielded Mr Inder Singh.
But the seat is likely to witness a straight fight
between Mr Sampat Singh and Mr Jagdish Nehra.

AMBALA: The presence of
rebels protesting against the wrong selection
of candidates in various parties has made the poll scene
hazy in many of the nine assembly segments of the Ambala
Lok Sabha seat spread over three districts of Panchkula,
Ambala and Yamunanagar. The Congress and the BJP are more
seriously afflicted with malaise than the INLD.

The INLD has to face
revolt mostly by those former MLAs who had joined it
after the fall of the HVP government. Though such MLAs
helped the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, in
becoming the Chief Minister, the party cadre never
accepted them as part of the party as they had been
either the HVP MLAs or Independents and had crossed
swords with the INLD workers a number of times in the
past years.

The Congress and the BJP
nominees lost valuable time in many constituencies in
placating partymen who were not happy about their
candidates. Meanwhile, the INLD campaign surged ahead
because its main leaders dare not defy the dictates of
the leadership even if they had any reservation about the
candidates. However, the Congress and the BJP workers did
not adopt non-cooperative attitude in those
constituencies where the parties fielded expected
candidates.

Both the Congress and
the BJP have fielded new faces in Ambala City. Mrs Kiran
Bala Jain (Congress) will take on Mrs Veena Chhibber of
the BJP. The selection of both has been resented to by
their respective partymen. Mrs Jain, former Deputy
Advocate-General of Haryana, had to work hard to appease
her colleagues in the first few days of campaigning. Mrs
Chhibber, former chief of the Haryana Mahila Morcha,
womens wing of the BJP, is threatened by the
presence of a rebel, Mr Nirmal Vij, former president of
the local civil body. Mr Vij has the potential to upset
the applecart of the INLD-BJP alliance in the city.

Mr Anil Vij, who
successfully contested the 1996 assembly elections from
Ambala Cantonment, after revolting against the BJP
leaderships decision to deny him the ticket, is
again posing a challenge to the BJP nominee, Dr Kabir Dev
Sharma, and the Congress candidate, Mrs Sudarshan who had
been the president of the civic body.

Dr Sharma, who is a
leading orthopaedists of the region, entered electoral
politics in 1996 when he lost to Mr Vij because the BJP
cadre had not accepted him. However, since then Dr Sharma
had been active in the party and claims to have overcome
the reservations of his partymen. He says that BJP MPs Ms
Sushma Swaraj and her husband Swaraj Kaushal, Mr Suraj
Bhan and Mr Rattan Lal Kataria have spent crores of
rupees on the development of Ambala Cantonment out of the
MP local area fund. Therefore, the voters, he says, will
prefer the BJP over the other parties.

Mr Vij, a bachelor,
proudly proclaims that in this land of defectors he did
not change his stand to support the HVP government,
though being an Independent, there was no legal bar on
him. His supporters say Mr Vij had been able to persuade
the state government to do for the cantonment so much as
no other government had done earlier. He started his
campaign even before the other parties started selection
of the candidates. Mrs Dua is yet to start her
campaigning.

The keenest contest in
Ambala will be witnessed in the Naggal segment from where
former President of the Haryana Youth Congress, Nirmal
Singh is seeking his re-election to the assembly on the
Congress ticket. He has been contesting this seat since
1982 when he became the MLA for the first time. He lost
the elections in 1987 to the Lok Dal-supported
Independent, Mr Harmohinder Singh Chatha, and regained
the seat in 1991 and 1996. The last elections he won as
Independent with a margin of over 20,000 votes from a
jail where he was lodged on a murder charge.

This time Mr Nirmal
Singh is facing a strong challenge from Mr Jasbir Singh
Mallaur of the INLD. In fact, Mr Nirmal Singh and Mr
Chautala are distantly related. But Mr Nirmal Singh did
not oblige the INLD leader when he sought the support of
the Naggal MLA after the fall of the HVP government.
Moreover, Mr Nirmal Singh has always been taking up
cudgels against the Lok Dal in Ambala district.

His rival, Mr Mallaur
contested the 1996 elections on the HVP ticket but lost.
After Mr Bansi Lal picked up Mr Nirmal Singh, Mr Mallaur
joined the INLD. Over the years he has been identified as
a symbol of anti-Nirmal forces in the area.

The INLD has launched a
high profile campaign in Naggal giving sleepless nights
to Mr Nirmal Singh, who is contesting on the Congress
ticket. However, the aggressive INLD campaigning has
stupefied members of the Scheduled Castes and Backward
Classes, who are in the process or polarising on the
other end of the spectrum. The process promises a keen
contest.

In the Mullana reserved
constituency the Congress candidate, Mr Phool Chand
Mullana, a former minister, finds the sitting INLD MLA,
Mr Risal Singh, too comfortable to be dislodged. The
voters of the constituency are appreciative of both
candidates behaviour and find it difficult to make
a selection. There is an Independent candidate in the
seven cornered contest. The other contestants are Ms
Kusum Sherwal (BJP), Ms Jaswinder Kaur (HVP), Mr Vijay
Kumar (NCP), Mr Parkash (BSP-A) and Mr Krishan Chand
(RPI).

Mr Shyam Lal Bansal
(BJP), who is supported by the INLD, is making a
desperate attempt to stop Mr Chander Mohan (Cong) from
making it a hat-trick to entering the assembly from the
Kalka constituency. Being a sitting MLA, Mr Chander Mohan
was sure of his ticket from the day one. Therefore, he
launched his campaign very early. Mr Bansal is a late
entrant because of the prolonged tussle between the BJP
and the INLD over seat-sharing.

Mr Bansal is hopeful
that the combine vote of the BJP and the INLD would see
him romp home because the two parties together polled
more votes than what Mr Chander Mohan could get. However,
the Congress managers point out that in electoral
mathematics two plus two do not always make four.
If it can be five, it can be three also, they
say.

Much will depend how
much votes the BJP is able to retain and how much the
INLD vote is transferred to its electoral partner. The
presence of Mr Jagdeep Choudhary, brother of the INLD
secretary-general Pradeep, as the BSP candidate is being
viewed with suspicion by BJP sympathisers. However, Mr
Ram Gopal Mehta, district INLD chief, says Jagdeep will
only harm the Congress.

It is virtually a
marriage of hearts between the BJP and the INLD at
Sadhaura where the latter has fielded Mr Balwant Singh
Kot Kachwa. His daughter was recently married to Mr Arun
Kumar, youngest son of Mr Suraj Bhan, BJP leader and
Governor of Uttar Pradesh. The workers of the two parties
are working for the success of their nominees in the face
of a strong challenge by Mr Deep Chand of the Congress
and Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, chief of the BSP.

Dr Ram Prakash,
secretary of the Haryana Congress, is trying to make room
for himself at Jagadhari, the constituency from where he
was least expected to contest. The 12-cornered contest is
presently dominated by Mr Bishan Lal of the BSP and Mr
Rameshwar Kumar of the BJP.

Mr Akram Khan
(Independent) is locked in a tough battle with Mr Kanwar
Pal of the BJP to retain the Chhachhrauli, a seat which
has been held first by his father and then by him since
1987. The BJP hopes that Mr Khans vote bank may be
eaten into by Mr Amir Hassan of the BSP.

AMBALA Feb 13  Dr
K.D. Sharma, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the
Ambala Cantonment Assembly seat, today raised the issue
of unauthorised colonies and assured that the matter
would be looked into it when he is elected.

Dr Sharma said this
issue had been raised by him during his meeting with
Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. "Mr
Chautala said the savings of the people had been invested
to build the houses and no harm would come to them,"
he said, according to press note.

He visited Ekta Vihar,
Gurunanak Nagar, Ravidas Nagar and adjoining areas during
his campaigning. He said he would ensure that development
activity takes place in these colonies. "I promise
that the development work that has come to a standstill
will be renewed after I win," he said.

At a corner meeting at
Dayal Bagh and Shiv Pratap Nagar, Dr Sharma said he had
been working for the welfare of the people for the last
four years. "I understand the problems of the people
and only a committed worker like me can bring about a
change in Ambala Cantonment," he claimed.

CHANDIGARH Feb 13 
As many as 289 polling centres have been established in
the Kalka Assembly Constituency for the smooth conduct of
the elections scheduled for February 22 and eight places
have been identified as sensitive polling stations. A
total of 168 centres are in rural areas and 121 in urban
areas.

This information was
given by Mr S. K. Monga, District Electoral Officer and
Deputy Commissioner, while addressing a press conference
here on Friday. The eight sensitive polling stations are
Baddgodam, Rattpur, Gaddi, Koraha, Karrol, Bataur,
Barwala and Rajiv Colony.

Giving information
regarding the election arrangements, he said that a route
chart had been prepared for sending polling parties to
various centres. For this purpose, 70 trucks and 14 jeeps
had been arranged.

He added that polling
parties for 28 polling centres would be dispatched in
special vehicles along with the employees of the Forest
Department who are familiar with the terrain in Morni. As
many as 320 polling parties had been constituted which
include reserve staff for polling centres and 26
supervisors appointed to look after work of these polling
parties. Besides, 12 magistrates had been specially
appointed for ensuring law and order in the area. They
have police parties attached with them.

Mr Monga said the
Election Commission has given directions that all the
voters should use photo-identity cards so that elections
could be held in a free and fair manner and false voting
avoided. He said that it was mandatory that all voters
show their photo-identity cards when they come to caste
their votes.

He said that voters who
had not made their photo identity cards should show their
driving licences, passport, ration card, tax documents,
bank or post office passbook, kisan pass book,
electricity bill, chulha tax bill or any other similar
document to the presiding officer at the time of voting.

The Deputy Commissioner
further informed that a meeting of all candidates,
political parties and election agents would soon be
called to give information regarding the orders of the
commission. Necessary orders had also been issued for
providing this information to all the sarpanches,
presiding officers and cable operators. Staff of the
Public Relations Department were also being utilised to
spread the word.

Further, he said, this
was the first time that electronic voting machines would
be used in the Kalka Assembly Constituency. It was,
therefore, essential that the voters, election staff,
political parties and polling agents be educated about
their use. The administration had already trained 1,500
officers and employees concerned with the elections for
using voting machine.

Advance publicity had
already been conducted in all villages of this
constituency and special teams dispatched to educate
people on the use of these machines. Special camps had
been set up in various places in the rural and urban
areas, including the offices of the block development and
panchayat officers, municipal committees in Kalka and
Pinjore.

Mr Monga added that
counting would be held at the community centre in BEL
Colony. The polling parties constituted for the polling
day would be provided essential training on February 12
and 18 in Yavnika Open Theatre. The Sub-Divisional
Officer would be the Returning Officer and the Tehsildar
would be the Assistant Returning Officer.

The Superintendent of
Police, Mr Sudhir Chowdhary, said that adequate police
arrangements had been made at all polling stations and
special nakas would be set up on the day of voting. In
addition to the Haryana Police, the department had sought
help of the Armed Police, Home Guards and Forest
Department. Nearly 14 duty magistrates had been assigned
duty.

PANIPAT:
Telecommunication technology is in for a major change.
The introduction of the Wireless Local Loop (WLL) system
which is undergoing field trials by the Department of
Telecom (DoT) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
(MTNL) at Panipat, Rajkot, Bhopal and Mumbai promises to
revolutionise the telecom networking in the country. This
technology will replace the traditional copper
twisted-pair local loop which is the conventional system
of providing telecom services to subscribers through
cables.

Telecom engineers say
that copper wires have provided access to the telephone
network for the past century and though significant
changes have been taking place in telecom technology, the
copper local loop from the exchange to the
subscribers place has remained more or less the
same. But with the introduction of the WLL and the
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), the limitations of
the copper era will be overcome. These technologies not
only offer subscribers the bandwidth of their choice and
mobility but will also prove to be a key component to
serve them in densely populated areas. Besides, the WLL
system is considered a superior alternative to the buried
cable.

But what is the WLL
technology? Explains an engineer of the Himachal
Futuristic Communication Limited (HFCL), a company which
is manufacturing WLL equipment: The WLL
system mainly comprises three components  the Dect
Interface Unit (DIU), the Compact Base Station (CBS) and
the Wallset. The DIU is an exchange for the wireless
system set up at the main telephone exchange and it
interfaces with the telecom network. The CBS is a small
pole-mounted or wall-mounted radio trans-receiver which
provide wireless access in the area and the Wallset is a
compact wall-mounted unit with a small antenna which
receives the signals from the CBS.

The DIU acts as a switch
and base station for the wireless system and it
interfaces with the Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN) on one side and the CBS, (distributors) on the
other side. The CBS is a small, remotely powered unit
housed in a sealed weather-proof enclosure that is
suitable for both indoor and outdoor use while the
Wallset is a terminal adapter for Dect (Digital Enhanced
Cordless Telephone) to which a standard telephone, modem,
fax or payphone can be connected.

The technology is
undergoing field trials in Panipat since April last year
on 250 internal lines of the DoT. These trials are being
conducted by the DoT with assistance from Midas
Communication Technologies, Chennai, who are among the
companies developing the WLL technology and the HFCL, the
manufacturers of the WLL equipment.

In a
congested old city like Panipat, this technology can
prove to be a boon for the subscribers. It will be
operationally smooth and the problem of digging up
congested lanes and erecting poles will be over. Then
there will be a minimal incidence of fault due to
breakage of cables or seepage of water during rains. The
other advantages of this system are that that it can be
installed and shifted easily, said a senior telecom
official.

Though initially, the
restrictive costs of the WLL system may not make it
accessible to the consumer but since many private sector
companies too are working on providing telecom service
through this system, experts feel that soon this
technology will be utilised on a mass scale. An engineer
points out: There are other aspects also
which will eventually make this technology popular.
Copper is becoming costlier day by day and almost 50 per
cent of the network cost of the DoT is consumed in the
conventional local loop system. So in the long run, the
WLL system will prove to be cost-effective.

PANIPAT, Feb 13  A
multi-cornered contest is on the cards in the coming
Vidhan Sabha polls with the official Congress and NDA
candidate and several prominent rebels and Independents
in the fray in this seat. Interestingly, Congressmen who
left the party in droves and joined the Sarv Jatiya
Panchayat in 1996 to contest as Independents have now
rejoined the parent party.

Prominent among those
who rejoined the Congress are Ram Niwas Gupta and Prem
Sachdeva, both of whom were aspirants for the Congress
ticket are now backing the official nominee Balbir Pal
Shah.

Ashok Khurana who had
left the HVP to join the INLD some months ago has also
joined the Congress. Because of this trend there is
jubilation in Congress ranks while the Panchayat is
subdued.

By contrast the INLD
camp has been thrown into confusion because of Mr Om
Prakash Chautala appearing to back at least three
candidates.

Officially the NDA
candidate is Dr Manohar Lal Suneja of the BJP, an RSS
activist who is also supported by I.D. Swami, Minister of
State for Home. Mr Om Prakash Jain, a minister in the
Chautala cabinet who won the seat in the 1996 Assembly
elections is contesting independently.

KHARKHAUDA (Sonepat): An
Arjuna Award in 1998, holder of numerous titles like the
Hind Kesri, Bharat Kesri and Rustum-e-Hind for 10 years
and a satisfying career in the Border Security Force
(BSF), Mr Sanjay Pehalwan had probably everything a
successful sportsman could ask for. Yet, he says, the
plight of thousands of qualified but unemployed
youngsters pained him.

After having flexed his
biceps for long enough, he has quit the BSF job to jump
into the political akhara for yet another
bout. He is the Congress candidate from the Rohat
Assembly constituency. Ours is a quite backward
area. Being a successful sportsman from this area people
used to look upon me for help. Many used to come to me
get their wards employed. But I could not do much for
them because everywhere there is favouritism. So, I
thought that the best way to work for the people was
through entering politics, he says.

Coming from a humble
agriculturist family of Matindu village, he and his three
brothers  Kuldip, Jagbir and Satish  remained
national level wrestlers. Mr Sanjay Pehalwan even
represented the country at the 1986, 1990 and 1994 Asian
Games also. The brothers have opened an akhara, the
Sanjay Shikhsa and Malvidyalay Kendra, in Delhi and a
senior secondary school at Kharkhauda. I have my
priorities worked out. We want development of our area,
problems like irrigational water has to be addressed and
our youth has to be involved in the mainstream, he
says. He was a Deputy Commandant in the BSF posted at
Chhawla when he decided to enter the electoral fray.
People have given me so much love an honour as a
wrestler. It is due to their good wishes and blessings
that I have reached the top. I still cannot forget how
village elders used to reward us when we won the
wrestling bouts. Now it is our turn to give something
back to them, he says proudly.

Sanjay could have
carried on with the BSF job but it was only because of
his sewa bhavna that he decided to resign and
entered politics. We are fighting for the rights of our
people, says his brother Kuldip.

Accompanied by a group
of wrestlers, Mr Sanjay Pehalwan makes door-to-door
visits, meeting people and asking for their support, like
a seasoned politician. It is great thing that the
party has given representation to a sportsman of his
calibre. It is quite encouraging for others also,
exclaims his brother Jagbir. While elder brothers Kuldip
and Jagbir take care of the logistical support for his
campaign, the youngest Satish looks after the Sanjay
Pehalwan during the hectic campaign.

What if he loses the
elections? There is no point in turning back. I
have quit a flourishing career in the BSF and even they
have written to me that now they will not take me back.
Ours elders wanted that we brothers should become
wrestlers and touch great heights. They always said that
whatever one does it should be with full dedication. We
hope to do the same in politics also, he adds
confidently.

DESPITE having made
their expectations quite clear, voters in Haryana are
confused owing to their choices and aspirations not
receiving the attention they deserve. To their own
chagrin, nor have the individual candidates aspiring to
be future legislators, independently or under the banner
of various political parties, been able to focus on any
issue the voters may rally around. Despite the dilemma,
the voters are not afraid to disclose their views on a
few other issues of more immediate relevance having a
direct bearing on the outcome of the elections.

The general assessment
of which party candidates have a winning chance in their
respective constituencies, offer a picture not otherwise
so much expected and pliable to many of us watching the
election game from a distance. In this respect, the
Congress is rated to have sluggishly reached the top for
getting marginally higher score points over the INLD. In
fact, the superiority of the former turns out to be too
thin and can easily get eroded. The relative score points
received by the two further reinforce that the current
elections do not so far offer a cakewalk for their party.
Both appear to be vying with each other by a single small
step behind or ahead of the other.

The BJP, in its own
identity, is too far behind in the race for being
returned in any noticeable number. It is well ahead of
the BSP and the HVP, which are finding the going tough.
Interestingly, and as may be expected, the score points
in favour of independents put them on a high winning
pedestal. It indicates that candidates with no formal
association with any political party will indeed be
winning a number of seats.

On a more direct
question whether any political party (or pre-election
alliance) will get a clear majority in the current
elections, the voters do foresee to be so. The response
to a further query as to which political party (or a
combine) will form the government defies any discernible
outcome in favour of either of the two parties actively
engrossed in the election fray. Here also, the Congress
again emerges superior to Chautala-INLD alone, the former
getting a total score points of 984 as against 661 in
favour of the latter. But Chautala-INLD in alliance with
the BJP does receive a clear lead over the Congress,
although not to the extent of a clear sweep as the total
score points in their alliance (1084) exceed those of the
Congress only by 100 points.

Those who do not foresee
(46.6 per cent) the possibility of a clear majority in
favour of any party, had to face a more challenging
situation in answering as to how in that event the
government will be formed. Such voters, in the first
place, see the independently elected legislators to be
acting in their true colours, which is very consistent
with the earlier observation that they are expected to
surface in a more than expected number. That defectors
will come into their usual role model and that, in
consequence, money and muscle power will contribute its
mite, have been rated to be relevant in the second and
third place, respectively. While this is only what can be
expected in the absence of any decisive mandate, the
possibility of any new formal post-election alliance
coming up as an alternative is expected to be very
remote.

As to who is likely to
be the next Haryana Chief Minister, the score points
based on the response data put Mr O.P. Chautala at the
top. He has, however, not been held too high for the
coveted position. In the two-choice game of INLD-BJP
combine vs the Congress, Mr Bhajan Lal cannot be taken to
have lagged far behind even with 250 lower score points
compared to Mr Chautala, especially in view of his (the
former) unmatching political acumen and enviable ability
to outmanoeuvre others in turning foes into friends. Mr
Bhupinder Hooda who is rated far closer to Mr Bhajan Lal
than Mr Birender Singh in the race for the chief
ministerial berth in the Congress fold, has indeed more
reasons than one to feel delighted.

In the context of what
qualities the Chief Minister should be richer in,
compassion for public cause is ranked at the highest ebb,
followed closely by the personality trait of honesty and
fair image. One should be apt in better governance gets
recognition only at the third place in the order of
importance. That he is able to render government
stability, has a good past record, and enjoys mass appeal
are rather low on the scale of preferred qualities which
the Chief Minister ought to possess.

AMBALA, Feb 13 
Naggal, the most prestigious Assembly seat of district
Ambala, seems set for a direct fight between the sitting
independent MLA Nirmal Singh contesting this time on a
Congress ticket and the INLD-BJP candidate, Jasbir
Malour, who contested the last Assembly election on the
HVP ticket. A third contender is the BSP candidate
Bhupinder Saini.

In the absence of any
wave local issues are likely to dominate the election
scene in this hyper sensitive constituency. While
development work started in various villages after the
visit of Chief Minister to this constituency under the
programme Sarkar aapke dwar in December last
may give some political advantage to the INLD candidate.
Issues like the distress sale of paddy, the water and the
power crises and poor sanitation conditions in villages
being raised by the Congress candidate may benefit the
latter.

Spread over 165 villages
the constituency has a total electorate of over 1,21,053.
Of these 17,910 are Jats, 23,523 BC, 23,543 SC, 12,816
Sikhs, 7,229 Brahmin and 6,027 are Sainis. The around
10,000 voters of 46 unauthorised colonies which were
served demolition notices by the Town and Country
Planning Department recently will play an important role
in the election. Both the INLD and Congress have filed
Jat candidates, which may cause a division among Jat
votes.

Mr Nirmal Singh is
contesting for the fifth time. In 1982, 1987 and 1991 he
contested on the Congress ticket and barring 1987 he won.
In 1966, on denial of the ticket by the Congress, he
contested as an independent candidate. At that time he
was lodged in Ambala Central Jail on a murder charge.
Later he was acquitted by the District and Sessions
court. The INLD candidate Jasbir Malour is contesting for
the second time. He first contested as an HVP candidate.

This election will be an
acid test for both the Congress as well as for the INLD
and the constituency will witness its toughest contest.

spread all over the
state, had become show-pieces in the
absence of any takers.

SIRSA: Mr Hari Chand
Mehta, state vice-president of the HVP, has joined the
INLD. A procession from the local Janata Bhavan was taken
out on Saturday to culminate at the election office of
the alliance candidate for the Sirsa legislative
Assembly, Mr Jagdish Chopra.  FOC

Aggarwal
quits Congress

SONEPAT: Mr Sat Narain
Aggarwal, an industrialist and former president of the
District Congress Committee, on Saturday resigned from
the primary membership of the Congress and joined the
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). He announced this in the
presence of INLD supremo and Chief Minister Om Prakash
Chautala at an election meeting organised in favour of
BJP nominee Devi Dass.  FOC

87
pc voters have identity cards

YAMUNANAGAR: The
rehearsal by presiding officers for ensuring peaceful
elections in this district has been conducted in two
phases. Mr Rajiv Sharma, District Election
Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, said here on Sunday that
as per the instructions of the Election Commissioner to
check the identity of voters, 87 per cent of the
electorate had identity cards. He said the voters could
produce ration cards and electricity bills etc.  FOC

Prohibitory
orders

YAMUNANAGAR: The
District Magistrate has prohibited the movement of more
than two vehicles, including mechanically-propelled
two-wheelers, from 8 pm on February 21 to the midnight of
February 22 in view of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha elections
here. The plying of any vehicle other than the permitted
vehicle of a candidate, his election agent or his
representative has also been banned.  FOC

Congress
leader joins BJP

FARIDABAD: The Congress
received a serious setback in this district when senior
district leader Tek Chand Sharma joined the BJP on
Saturday with a large number of his supporters. He also
addressed several meetings at villages of the Ballabhgarh
Assembly constituencies.  FOC

Fatehabad
leads in photo I-cards

FATEHABAD: Fatehabad has
taken a lead over all districts of Haryana in the
issuance of photo identity cards to voters. Over 95 per
cent of voters have already been issued their photo
identity cards. In a press note issued here on Sunday, Mr
Anil Malik, Deputy Commissioner, said those who did not
get their identity cards before the day of polling could
prove their identity by some other documents like ration
cards, driving licences, bus passes and pass book. 
FOC

Setback
for INLD

ROHTAK: The ruling
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) received a severe jolt
when several of its office-bearers and activists joined
the Congress here on Sunday. According to the district
Congress spokesperson those who left the INLD included
president of the district (urban) unit, Mr Suresh
Munjhal, and Dr Arvind Bedi, and Mr Ashok Arora
(vice-presidents).  FOC

SIRSA, Feb 13 
Eminent neuro-surgeon, Dr V.K. Kak, while emphasising the
need to open schools for retarded children at the
district level, has said society should treat retarded
children similar to that of normal children and their
parents should take them to the parties and other
functions so that they do not feel neglected.

Dr Kak and his team of
specialists were on a two-day tour of the district. He
team inspected the school for retarded children
"Prayas" and the centre for deaf and dumb
yesterday. He said society should accept the fact that
there was mental retardedness and the stigma against the
disease had to be removed.

He said 2.4 per cent
children were retarded and there was need to create
awareness by educating the parents of the suffering
regarding their upbringing. The parents should engage the
suffering children in recreational activities and provide
them vocational training, he observed.

He felt that the parents
of retarded children should form an association and make
suggestions for rehabilitation of such children. He
revealed that a national trust for disabled and retarded
children had been constituted at Lucknow by Prime
Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Rs 200 crore was kept
at its disposal.

SONEPAT, Feb 13 
The Haryana Government has initiated steps for the
construction of a cooperative sugar mill at Ahulana
village in Gohana subdivision of this district.

The state government has
appointed the Deputy Commissioner as its Chairman and the
Additional Deputy Commissioner as its Managing Director.

The state government has
also convened a meeting on February 15 to appoint an
architect for undertaking the construction work of the
mill. The Financial Commissioner of the Haryana
Cooperative Department will preside over the meeting.

The mill will be spread
in an area of 15,000 acres and crush about 30 lakh
quintals of sugarcane every year.

A memorandum regarding
the demand of the college was submitted to Mr Chautala
when he visited the historic gurdwara of Panjokhra Sahib
to attend the annual gathering here. Addressing the
gathering, he said one must follow the path shown by the
Guru. Mr Surjit Singh Niddar, SGPC member, Mr Ratan Lal
Kataria, MP, Mr Faqir Chand Aggarwal, former Deputy
Speaker, and Mr Ranbir Singh Fauji were present.